The Ohio University community is invited to celebrate the 2017 recipients of the Presidential Research Scholars, Presidential Teacher Award and Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at a special recognition event on Thursday, Oct. 26, in the Walter Hall Rotunda.

The event, sponsored by the offices of the Executive Vice President and Provost and Vice President for Research and Creative Activity, is from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Faculty, staff, students and community members are invited. Light refreshments will be served.

The awards program recognizes mid-career faculty members who have garnered national and international prominence in research, scholarship and creative activity. Each award recipient will receive $3,000 to be used at the scholar’s discretion as an honorarium or to support research or creative works.

Brittany Peterson, associate professor in the School of Communication Studies and the coordinator of e-learning for the Scripps College of Communication, was chosen as the winner of the Presidential Teacher Award. The award is presented to a Group I faculty member, a full-time, tenured faculty member from one of OHIO’s campuses. It was first presented in 2001.

The other finalists for the award were Joann Beningo (Communication Sciences and Disorders), Barbara Mahaffey (Human Services Technology-Chillicothe) and Dusan Sormaz (Industrial and Systems Engineering).

Dr. Jodie Foster, Associate Lecturer in Biological Sciences, was named the winner of the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. The Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching is presented to a full-time Group II faculty member from one of OHIO’s campuses. The award was first presented in 2016.

The other finalists for the award were Rebecca Code (Biomedical Sciences), Pamela Kaylor (Communications-Lancaster) and Lea Sheridan (Biomedical Sciences).

Both teaching award winners will hold the titles for three years, and receive $1,000 each year. The selection committees for both awards reviewed portfolios, visited classrooms and conducted interviews of the finalists and their department chairs or school directors. The criteria include excellence in teaching and meritorious academic pursuits, both inside and outside the classroom.

No RSVP is required for the Oct. 26 event. For more information, contact research@ohio.edu.